Tom Clancy's op-center_ acts of war - Tom Clancy [62]
"Yes," said Herbert. "He's pulling a dead something off the road. It looks like a sheep or dog. But that's not what I want you to see. Watch the back of the Regional Op-Center."
Hood did. The darkness seemed to shift slightly behind the ROC, though that could have been caused by atmospheric conditions between the satellite and the target. Suddenly, there was a tiny flash which lasted for just one image. A few seconds later there was another flash in a slightly different spot.
"What was that?" Hood asked.
"I've run it through computer enhancement," Herbert said. "We thought at first that it might have been a moth or an artifact in the image. But it was definitely a reflection, slightly concave and probably coming from a watch crystal. Keep looking, though."
Hood did. He saw Phil Katzen return to the van. He watched it start to move ahead. Then he saw it stop. The van remained parked for several images. Hood leaned closer to the screen. Then the door opened, the light came on inside the ROC, and someone got in.
"Oh, no," Hood said. "God, no."
Herbert froze the image on the monitor. "As you can see," he said, "whoever it is, he's armed. Looks like a.38 in the holster and a Czech Parabellum over his shoulder. According to Darrell, the Syrian Kurds bought crate loads of those from Slovakia in 1994."
Herbert started up the moving image again. For a moment Hood couldn't see anything else because the image had been taken from almost directly overhead. But as he waited, he felt his guilt and every other priority evaporate in the face of what he was watching.
"In about four minutes real time," Herbert said, "the ROC headlights are going to flash three times. Obviously, whoever is at the controls is signaling someone up ahead."
"How did this happen?" Hood asked. "Mike wouldn't have told them about the ROC."
"We don't think his captors knew about the Regional Op-Center ahead of time," Herbert said. "They were probably just waiting for Mike's wheels to arrive and lucked out."
"How was it done?" Hood asked.
"My guess is the carjackers set up a watch alongside the road. As a precaution, they must have gassed the ROC as it passed. The way the van slowed seems to indicate that the crew was overcome quickly, although not immediately. The driver had enough time to brake. The good news is that the intruder didn't shoot our people once he got inside."
"How do you know?"
"We would've seen flashes," Herbert said.
"Yes, of course," Hood replied. That was a stupid question. Pay attention to what the hell's going on. And then he said, "Unless they were already dead from the gas."
"That's unlikely," Herbert replied. "The crew would be no help if they were dead. Alive they can serve as hostages. Perhaps they can help the Kurds get out of the country. Or," Herbert added gravely, "maybe they can tell the Kurds how to work the ROC."
Hood knew that Mike Rodgers and the two Strikers would die before they helped their kidnappers work the ROC. But Hood did not know whether Katzen, Coffey, or Mary Rose would sacrifice their lives to protect it. Nor did he believe that Rodgers would let them.
"We don't have too many options here, do we?" Hood asked.
"We do not," said Herbert.
According to prescribed Regional Op-Center procedures established by Rodgers, Coffey, Herbert, and their advisors, if the ROC were ever captured, the immediate response would be for someone to hit the "Fry" buttons. Simultaneously pressing Control, Alt, Del, and Cap "F" on either keyboard would cause a surge from the ROC engine batteries. The current generated by the command would be sufficient to burn out the major circuits in the computers and batteries. For all intents and purposes, the fried ROC would cease to be anything but a gas-powered van. If for some reason the procedure failed, the crew or Op-Center itself was required to destroy the ROC by any means at its disposal. If an enemy were to obtain access to communciations links and codes, national security and the activities and lives of dozens of undercover